Slave (Groo the Wanderer #43) 3.5Stars

 

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Title: Slave
Series: Groo the Wanderer #43
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K
Publish: 1988

The misadventures occasioned by Granny Groo continue. Granny sells Groo into slavery and tells Rufferto (Groo’s dog) to guard Groo’s swords. Thus she gets rid of both Groo and Rufferto, gets some money and goes on her way unhindered.

There is a running gag (one among many) about Groo being called “mendicant” and going ballistic about it because he doesn’t know what it means but thinks it is an insult. Aragones leans HARD into that joke in the following panel. I laughed my head off:

Of course Groo and Rufferto (now Rufferto the Swordsdog!) are reunited. Considering Granny stole away, I am kind of hoping Aragones is done with her character for now and we get somebody new for Groo to interact with. We’ll see what future issues hold.

I thoroughly enjoyed this 24 page comic. I laughed, then I laughed some more and finally, I laughed even more. Aragones humor, while not exactly like mine, parallels it enough that he never fails to get a good chuckle from me. I always look forward to reading the Groo comic each month and I want to keep it that way. If I was in a weird mood, I could read 20 Groo comics in a row and have a Groo Month, but I know I would burn out and that is a fate I want to avoid at all costs.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge

After the debacle from the previous issue, Groo and Granny are chased out of town by an angry mob. Granny wants to recoup some of what she lost AND get rid of Groo. She convinces Groo she is going to sell him as a slave and then “save” him later, like she used to do when he was a child. She gives Groo’s swords to Rufferto and sells Groo into slavery. Without his swords, Groo is helpless. Rufferto is very proud of now being a Swordsdog and brags to all the local dogs, who laugh at him. Even as an unarmed slave, Groo gets into so much trouble that everyone wants to kill him and without his swords, everybody IS about to kill him. Rufferto shows up at the last second and gives Groo his swords and thus the tables are turned on everybody else. Groo and Rufferto are reunited in their proper role as Unstoppable Swordsman and Trusty Canine Companion. The issue ends with Groo wondering how Granny is going to rescue him since he already rescued himself.

• All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews